Christmas with the Nightmare Man
by Tiro
Summary: Part of The Nightmare Man verse. Christmas time, set after The Nightmare Man.


**Christmas with the Nightmare Man**

 **Summary** : Part of The Nightmare Man verse. Christmas time, set after The Nightmare Man.

 **Pairing/s** : None.

 **Warnings** : Good thing if you know about The Nightmare Man fic and Harry Potter being the Nightmare Lord.

 **Disclaimers** : I don't own Harry Potter nor do I make any money writing fanfiction.

-o-

A small insight of the winter holidays at the Nightmare Lord's manor.

-o-

Harrison heard the moment the door was opened that it was no threat. Instead he lay still under the covers, waiting and listening. The quiet steps, but not quite quiet enough. Then Angel's voice and Lucy shushing her.

"We need to jump on him," Lucy whispered.

He wondered if he should let them. The Nightmare Lord, allowing two children to jump on him as they pleased… well, it wasn't like anyone outside the manor would know in the end.

So when Lucy lifted three-year old Angel onto the bed before crawling up herself he didn't say anything. He didn't move. Angel pounced on his back, squealing when he rolled around and shot her up in the air with magic. Lucy screamed:

"You were awake this entire time, weren't you?!"

"You need to learn to sneak better," he told her.

"I have been learning," Lucy said and fell onto his stomach. "It's Christmas."

"Yes, and also it's… half past five. What are you two even doing up?"

"It's Christmas!" Angel called.

He lowered her back to the bed and said:

"Yes, also it's very early. Go back to sleep."

"Read for us!" Angel demanded.

"Is she serious?" Harrison asked Lucy.

Lucy shrugged, but agreed that he should read for them, the little traitor. He realized he wouldn't be getting any more sleep anytime soon.

"Probably Fred and George put them up to this," he muttered as he looked for a book that wasn't too gory.

He found one from Godric, and brought it back to the bed. The children crawled up right next to him and it took Harrison a moment to get used to that. He should be used to have them so near but… well, sometimes he forgot.

"Does it has pictures?" Angel asked.

"Have," he corrected gently. "Well, no… but I can make pictures with magic, I think."

"Magic, yes!"

"Thank Merlin, you're easy to please," he muttered before clearing his throat and opening the book. "Alright. Are you two monsters ready to further ruin my day?"

"You're the monster," Lucy said.

"Can't argue with that."

And then he began to read.

-o-

Nearly three hours later Elise came with breakfast for the three of them.

"Did you do this?" Harrison wanted to know. "Did you tell them to wake up at… at a time I don't want to be awake, and wake me up?"

"I do believe that might have been Fred and George," Elise said. "Or Severus. He has quite a mischievous side when it suits him."

"Figures… please tell me there's something good to eat."

It was. All of his favourites, along with his favourite drink… one he hadn't had since before he was captured by the Ministry hundreds of years ago. He wasn't even sure any of his servants had remembered.

Harrison took a sip, and sighed. Lucy and Angel snuffled without waking up. He didn't mind.

"Is it still the way you prefer it, master?"

"Yes. You remembered."

"I never forget what master likes," Elise said.

Harrison bit his lip. _Don't cry, don't cry, you knew she'd say something like that, and you don't need to cry at that_. But the fact she remembered everything he likes, presumably also what he didn't like, it was hard not to want to cry to that. So few had ever bothered.

"Master?"

"I'm fine," he said, clearing his throat. "Better get these devils up."

Angel was ecstatic about breakfast in bed, and Lucy was only marginally calmer. Harrison could hear voices outside the room, the servants moving around. A single Dementor came into the room, screeching softly. Angel looked up at the noise, but didn't react more than that.

"When do we get to open the presents?" Lucy asked.

"Chew with your mouth closed," Harrison told her. "And we'll get to it."

"When?"

"When we get to it," he said.

Harry came in just then, distracting Lucy from developing a full pout at Harrison. He could and would have resisted it, but the whining might have done him in, just to have some peace and quiet.

The kids ran off after Harry within minutes, leaving Harrison to get ready on his own. The Dementor draped its arms over his shoulders, chilling the room further.

"Why no frost on the windows?" he asked it. "It's Christmas, frost on the windows is sort of normal."

The Dementor shrugged and Harrison went to the bathroom to freshen up. It detached itself from him at the door, and he smiled when he saw the Dementor breathe onto the window to make frost appear.

The servants were all up, Harry having handed Angel over to Severus and the man sitting with the girl as she drew with magic-infused crayons (the Nightmare Lord had been bored and she certainly hadn't complained when he showed her how different and much more fun they were).

Or well, it wasn't just her drawing.

"She insisted I helped," Severus muttered once Harrison came into the living room. "Don't you dare say a single word."

"Why would I? Three hours ago I read about bears to her."

"Bears? Aren't they a bit too vicious for a girl her age?"

"It was the least violent and non-bloody book I could find on short notice," Harrison said. "The children books are in the children's rooms… I better make sure I have some in mine I suppose, if they make a habit of waking me before dawn."

Fred and George had decorated the manor a bit more child-friendly than Elise's version of it. They let her hang her skulls and bone-garlands in one of the ballrooms though, and hidden high up in the hallway ceiling. She insisted upon having them despite the fact most wouldn't see them.

As for Harrison, he didn't care much about the decoration this time around. It made the children happy, so he wouldn't complain. The glittery stuff was also rather nice.

"Why are the Dementors breathing on the windows?" Fred demanded to know a few minutes later.

"Christmas spirits, hush," Harrison told him.

"That's… that makes no sense!"

"I never said it should make sense," Harrison replied. "Don't you have gifts to open?"

"You mean we can open them?" Lucy yelled.

"Why does she have such good hearing when she's not supposed to hear it?" Harrison muttered before raising his voice: "Yes, I suppose you can."

Angel forgot all about her drawings and Severus released a sigh of relief. Harrison leaned back in the armchair he had taken for himself, and not intending to leave for a long while.

Harry, Fred and George seemed almost as eager as the children. Harrison had enjoyed going shopping these last few years for Christmas, if only because his servants were pleasantly surprised when he had gotten them something.

Angel was building up an impressive collection of stuffed toys but no one could resist giving her more. She still favoured the ones given to her by Harrison, and especially unicorns. Severus told him too not look so damned pleased about it, but Harrison made sure to look extra pleased whenever it was mentioned and Severus was nearby.

Harry wandered over to Harrison and held out a brightly wrapped package.

"For me?" Harrison wondered.

"It's not the only one," Harry told him. "We do like buying things for you too, you know."

"Oh… yes. I suppose you do. Thank you."

Harrison took the package and sat it in his lap while opening it. It was a box, and inside the box were… wands. Harrison took them out one by one, and then looked up at Harry.

"I had Lucian and Elise help me getting them," Harry said. "Or well, they killed the people and stole their wands."

"Thank you," Harrison said. "I do love collecting wands. These ones… yes, I can still feel their owners, slightly. Lovely."

Angel was next, a poorly wrapped gift in her hands. Lucy followed, and they both demanded to watch him open the gifts. Harrison indulged them, Harry leaning against the armchair as he pulled the wrapping paper away from the gifts.

Angel's gift was clearly homemade, and it was a stuffed toy… made to look like a Dementor.

"We made it," Lucy said. "With some help."

"It looks adorable," he told them. "My children will be so jealous."

"Lu said, they look like that," Angel said. "Me dunno."

"Hmm, I daresay it's quite the striking image of them. Well done, both of you."

Lucy's was a book on fairytales, nightmare images, and she grinned at him.

"Should we contact someone and have them write about you?" she wondered. "Muggles would find you horrifying."

"I take that as a compliment, young lady. Now shoo, open the rest of your gifts and let this old man be alone."

Angel giggled and Harrison watched the three return to their gifts. He turned over the Dementor toy and had to smile at it. To think the day had arrived when someone made the Dementors into something this cute… he wondered if Angel would be scared if she could see the Dementors.

Probably not. She's gotten used to their breathing, and the cold. Perhaps a tad nervous as they weren't pleasing on the eye for everyone, but Harrison was confident Angel wouldn't mind them much.

"A lovely toy, master," Lucian said.

"Mine," Harrison said. "And wands. Harry gave me wands. You helped him with that."

"We did," Lucian said. "I remember that book. Lucy insisted on going to a Muggle bookstore. We had Severus follow with her."

"Don't tell me Muggle books frighten you," Harrison said.

"We can't figure out the coins," Lucian said.

Ah, yes, Muggles coins… perhaps he should have a lesson with them about those. Harrison might need to refresh his mind on them as well. But that would mean Severus should hold the lesson.

Oh well, they had time. Harrison leaned back in the chair. They had a lot of time.

"Merry Christmas, Lucian," Harrison said.

"Merry Christmas, master. Even it's a silly Muggle holiday."

"Gifts and good food, hush about the rest."

(Harrison took the Dementor stuffed toy to bed when it was time to sleep. His children were not impressed. Lucian came in half an hour later, begging Harrison to stop teasing them as their wails kept the whole manor awake. Harrison made a joke about him being a nightmare. Lucian was not impressed.)

(The Dementors were placated with some hunting the next day, but the Dementor stuffed toy remained in Harrison's rooms from that day on.)

 _The end_

* * *

Just a short story about the Nightmare Lord a few years after the events in The Nightmare Man. I've been so busy I haven't had time to write on almost anything, but I enjoyed getting to write a bit of silliness.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Tiro


End file.
